Architect Pirouz
Khanlou of Los Angeles has been involved in Azerbaijan since
the first days of its independence in the early 1990s. Khanlou
stresses urgency in addressing issues related to urban development
in Baku and insists that unless serious steps are taken, the
future spells disaster, especially given that the city is located
in an active earthquake zone.

Khanlou, an eternal optimist even when confronted with seemingly
insurmountable difficulties, suggests tackling the city's urban
development problems on both a short-term and long-term basis.
He outlines specific ways to do this. Page
32.

Dr. Meg Hayes, physician and educator in the Department
of Family Medicine at Oregon Health & Science University
(OHSU), became involved with Baku in 2000 in a partnership with
the Narimanov Health District which serves a large refugee population.
Thanks to Dr. Hayes a new concept of medicine has been introduced
there - Family Medicine - in which physicians provide outstanding
health care from birth to death, in a therapeutic relationship,
based on continuity of care, and within the framework of an understanding
of the social and family dynamics affecting that patient. Page 80.

Thomas Goltz from Montana - passionate, gutsy and
eloquent as always - takes a look at Baku's construction boom
and doesn't like what he sees. He's deeply concerned that irreversible
changes are taking place in Baku. Radical steps should be taken
to stop now, especially the destruction of buildings from the
oil boom period and unsafe building practices. Goltz is author
of three books related to the Caucasus: "Azerbaijan Diary"
(1998/99), "Chechnya Diary: A War Correspondent's Story
of Surviving the War in Chechnya" (2003) and "Georgia
Diary" (2006). Page 28.

Shaig Jabiroghlu
Safarov is a true philologist
- he loves words. So much so that he spent 12 years compiling
the first-ever Thesaurus for the Azeri language. Actually, he
didn't set out to write such a dictionary. Simply, he wanted
to translate some of the well-known English language playwrights
like Arthur Miller and Agatha Christie into Azeri. As there were
no major English dictionaries in Baku, a trip to Moscow introduced
him to Roget's Thesaurus and then came the inevitable question:
"Well, why doesn't Azeri have a Thesaurus, too?" Today,
it does. Thanks Shaig. Page 84.

Ronnie Gallagher worked as Environmental Manager for
BP in Azerbaijan from 2000-2003. During his free time, he explored
much of the countryside, enjoying natural history and searching
for evidence of ancient settlements. Here, Gallagher shares some
of his observations about Parigala (Angel Castle) near Zaqatala
and challenges archaeologists to help solve the enigma of its
existence. His observations on stone circles, cup
marks, cart
ruts and mud
volcanoes have been published in earlier issues of Azerbaijan
International. Currently on assignment in Angola, Gallagher returns
to Azerbaijan whenever possible. Page
74.